Siku (pan flute)

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Various sikus
indigenous Bolivians playing the siku

Siku , also sicu or sico , is a form of panpipe in the central Andes that is played in particular on the high plateau of the Altiplano and in the surrounding mountain ranges of Bolivia and Peru . It has had a special meaning for the local population since early times. Sikuri is the name of the siku player , but also an associated traditional form of music.

etymology

The word siku comes from the Aymara , but is also used in some nearby Quechua-speaking regions. In addition, the following names are often found among others: phusa (Aymara), antara (Quechua), ayarachi, aarachi, ayarichi, ayrachi (Quechua / Aymara), phuku (Quechua), lakita (Aymara). Zampoña is the Spanish word for shepherd's flute, which the conquistadors transferred to this instrument.

Playing technique and characteristics

The traditional pan flutes around Lake Titicaca are generally played in pairs, which means that two people always play one instrument. In the more common variant, called siku , the tones of the scale are alternately distributed over one or the other half. This enables quick changes and large jumps between the individual flute reeds. A common sentiment is this:

H - c - d - e - fis - g - a - h - c '- d' - e '- fis' - g' - a '- h'

The tones are divided into two rows, which are called ira (the leading one) and arka (the following one, points away from the body). Depending on the region, the flute halves are also seen as male or female. This is how the player looks at his instrument from above:

  • Arka:   (h ') - (g') - (e ') - (c') - (a) - (f sharp) - (d) - (H)
  • Ira:          (a ') - (f sharp') - (d ') - (h) - (g) - (e) - (c)

The tuning shown here in E minor of a Zampoña Malta with 15 reeds is typical, but only one of many. The relationship between the notes hardly changes; other moods, for example B minor or D minor, often correspond to this relationship. But there are also pan flutes tuned to pentatonic or even hexatonic, that is, only with whole-tone steps, which sounds "crooked" to European ears. The range of the Siku includes almost all possible pitches in the various sizes, so that the shortest tube is 2 cm, while the longest tube is 1.50 m. Certain dances, on the other hand, are accompanied by undivided instruments, with up to 17 reeds. Nevertheless, the flutes complement each other in pairs due to the playing technique, since the tones sound alternately from one and the other flute.

Overall, it is noticeable that even with the 17-tube instruments, glissandi are played very rarely and they seem to occur more randomly, in contrast to European pan flute music. Another special feature of the Siku are the resonance tubes, which are particularly used in traditional music, which are attached behind the played tubes (made of bamboo) and are either about half as long as the former or just as long, but open at the bottom. They sound more or less an octave higher and produce a fuller, often overtone-rich sound. The sound, rich in overtones, corresponds to the Andean ideas of musical aesthetics.

See also

literature

  • Max Peter Baumann : Music in the Andean highlands. Bolivia. Klett, Stuttgart 1983.
  • Ernesto Cavour Aramayo: Instrumentos musicales de Bolivia. Producciones CIMA, La Paz 1994.
  • Américo Valencia Chacon: El Siku bipolar altiplánico. Artex, Lima 1983.
  • John M. Schechter, Richard Haefer: Siku. In: Laurence Libin (Ed.): The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Volume 4, Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2014, pp. 514f

Web links

Commons : Siku  - collection of images, videos and audio files